Archives West Finding Aid

Born February 21, 1923 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from a Pennsylvania Dutch background, Ruth Mountaingrove is the daughter of Edith Shelling and Herbert Daniel Shook. She graduated from Kutztown State Teacher's College, now known as Kutztown University. Many years later Ruth continued her education at Humboldt State University, in Arcata, California, where she studied photography and received a Masters of Fine Arts in 1990 at the age of 68. She has lived on the West Coast since 1971.

The video tapes cover all aspects of Ruth's life, beginning from the time of her birth to the year she made the last video in 1997. Ruth takes the viewer through her childhood and her teenage years where she began her love of music, literature and photography. In junior high Ruth bought her first camera, a pivotal moment in her life. While in college, Ruth gained more experience as a photographer and began writing poetry.

In 1946, while living in New Hope, Pennsylvania, Ruth was a teacher, poet, and artist. During that period she published her first book of poetry, Rhythms of Spring. On December 27, 1946 she married Bern Ikeler. Together they had 5 children: Eric, Kim, Jeff, David, and Heather. Eric died shortly after birth and David died when he was a young man, while living in Southern Oregon.

A central theme in Ruth's writings is feminism and lesbianism. Her feminism began after she read Betty Friedan's, The Feminine Mystique in 1963 during the rise of the Women's Movement. Ruth shares details about experiencing generations of family abuse. Ruth divorced her husband in 1965.

During this period when Ruth was changing her life and becoming a feminist, a momentous event occurred. She met and fell in love with her future lover and partner, Jean Mountaingrove. They met in 1970 while attending a conference in Wallingford, PA., at Pendle Hill, a Quaker Retreat Center. Ruth eventually moved to Oregon in 1971 to join Jean. Together they lived in several intentional communities: Mountain Grove (from which they took their last name), Golden, and Cabbage Lane. They co-published WomanSpirit magazine for ten years, from 1974 to 1984. With its national distribution, WomanSpirit became one of the most influential feminist/lesbian magazines of its time. It brought many women to Oregon who were seeking a collective way of life on women's land in the country.

In 1978 Ruth and Jean bought Rootworks, privately owned land near Wolf Creek, Oregon, where they continued to publish WomanSpirit magazine. A barn, called Natalie Barney, was built by a large crew of women, to provide for the growing needs of the publication. Rootworks was also the location for the Women Photographer's Ovulars, which were weeklong workshops for feminist photographers. These workshops took place annually for six years. The feminist photography magazine, The Blatant Image, which developed from the Ovulars, was also published at Rootworks.

After 12 years, Ruth and Jean's domestic partnership ended. Ruth had heard about free tuition at California colleges for people over 60, so she decided to continue her education in photography and art. She moved to Arcata, California to attend Humboldt State University where she received a degree in photography.

Throughout her life, Ruth has expressed her creativity through dance, writing poems, articles, and short stories, writing and singing songs, and by painting and taking photographs. She reads some of her poems and sings many of her songs, while playing her guitar, throughout the videos. She also tapes her performance art, many of her paintings and photographs, as well as her art studios and art exhibits.

Ruth has been photographing women in lesbian communities across the United States for many years and has been involved in the writing and publishing of many women's publications, including Country Women magazine, Country Women's Spirituality issue, WomanSpirit magazine, The Blatant Image, as well as her songbooks, Turned on Women, Country Songs and Women's Songs

Ruth has had many one-woman exhibitions including those at Boston University; the University of Pennsylvania; San Antonio, Texas; San Diego, California; Seattle, Washington; and Portland, Oregon. Her month long one-woman exhibition, at the University of Oregon Museum of Art in 1988, included mostly lesbian photographs, a lecture, and slide show presentation. She was also editor for OLOC, (Old Lesbians Organizing for Change) from 1994 to 1997.

At age 81, Ruth continues to live in Arcata where she is still active in the community and busy with her art and photography.